WBC's new neighbors paint house in gay pride flag

Equality House meant to symbolize equality, positive change

Aaron Jackson is co-founder of Planting Peace, a national nonprofit organization that on Tuesday began painting a house across the street from Westboro Baptist Church. "This isn't us trying to start a war with them or anything of that nature," Jackson said of the church that is know for anti-gay protests. "This is just, they believe one thing and we believe another. We're opposing their view." Painting in the background is volunteer Kelly Cameron.

Workers on Tuesday paint the Planting Peace nonprofit group's Equality House, 1200 S.W. Orleans, in the colors of the gay pride flag. The house is located across the street from Westboro Baptist Church.

Workers on Tuesday paint the Planting Peace nonprofit group's Equality House, 1200 S.W. Orleans, in the colors of the gay pride flag. The house is located across the street from Westboro Baptist Church.

Workers on Tuesday paint the Planting Peace nonprofit group's Equality House, 1200 S.W. Orleans, in the colors of the gay pride flag. The house is located across the street from Westboro Baptist Church.

Planting Peace co-founder Aaron Jackson stands Tuesday at the door of the nonprofit's Equality House, 1200 S.W. Orleans, which is being painted in the colors of the gay pride flag. The house is located across the street from Westboro Baptist Church.

Workers on Tuesday at 10:30 am, continued to paint the Planting Peace nonprofit group's Equality House, 1200 S.W. Orleans, in the colors of the gay pride flag. The house is located across the street from Westboro Baptist Church.

Workers on Tuesday at 10:30 am, continued to paint the Planting Peace nonprofit group's Equality House, 1200 S.W. Orleans, in the colors of the gay pride flag. The house is located across the street from Westboro Baptist Church.

A volunteer paints purple trim Tuesday on the nonprofit Planting Peace's Equality House, 1200 S.W. Orleans. The house, which is across the street from Westboro Baptist Church, was painted in the colors of the gay pride flag.

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Aaron Jackson wasn’t even aware of Westboro Baptist Church until he saw the May 2012 photograph of 9-year-old Topekan Josef Miles staging a counterprotest at one of the church’s pickets.

The photo of Josef, whose sign read “God hates no one,” went viral, spreading rapidly across the Internet.

The photo inspired Jackson, he said, and he checked Google Earth to see where Westboro Baptist was located. The application displayed an image of the church’s compound — and a “for sale” sign in the yard of a house across the street. Although that house turned out not to be for sale, Jackson said, the house at 1200 S.W. Orleans was, and a plan started to take shape.

Planting Peace, Jackson’s nonprofit organization, on Tuesday painted the house across the street from the church in the colors of the gay pride flag. The “Equality House” is meant to symbolize equality, peace and positive change, Jackson said.

Jackson, 31, of Destin, Fla., is co-founder of Planting Peace. He said the group purchased the house about six months ago. As it isn’t zoned for office use, he said, it will be used as housing for Planting Peace volunteers who want to work on the group’s equality campaign and anti-bullying programs.

As for how the neighbors will feel, Jackson said he doesn’t know what approach Westboro Baptist will take.

“This isn’t us trying to start a war with them or anything of that nature,” he said. “This is just, they believe one thing and we believe another. We’re opposing their view.”

Steve Drain, spokesman for Westboro Baptist, issued a statement via email proclaiming that the church thanks God for the “Sodomite Rainbow House.” The house shines a spotlight on the church’s belief that sodomy is destroying America and damning souls to hell, he stated.

“This is not a novel idea — there are hundreds of similarly painted houses around the world — the only reason why this one is a story is because of where it is!” Drain wrote.

City spokeswoman Suzie Gilbert said painting the house didn’t violate city code.

Painters with McKessor’s Painting began work on the house at 8 a.m. Work was scheduled to last throughout the day, as the siding needed multiple coats.

Contractor Mike McKessor, of Kansas City, Mo., said he had agreed to contract to paint the house with four of his employees after five other contractors who initially expressed interest turned the job down. His reason was simple.

“I don’t like them messing with veterans,” he said, referring to Westboro Baptist’s pickets of troops’ funerals. McKessor said he is a veteran.

He said local painters may have been uncomfortable with the thought of harassment from the group if they accepted the job. But he said he doesn’t blame them.

“I live an hour away, so I can get away with it,” he said.

Beyond that, McKessor seemed to like the idea of the Equality House.

“You know, everybody’s the same, so hey, let’s get rid of the hatred,” he said.

The group’s goal isn’t for the Equality House to be a sideshow, Jackson said, but rather to be aesthetic and professional.

He and other volunteers said several neighbors and passers-by had stopped by to share their support for the project.

“I’m happy to see the community is getting behind it,” he said.

Jackson started Planting Peace in 2004 with John Dieubon. He said he didn’t receive much funding support for his first project — an orphanage in Haiti — but got it off the ground with Dieubon, who is from Haiti. Jackson funded the orphanage, and Dieubon ran it.

Now, along with a network of volunteers, Jackson organizes several projects worldwide, including rainforest preservation and a multination deworming campaign that received a good deal of recognition when the group was named a CNN Hero in 2007.

Since then, funding has poured in, and the group was able to deworm more than 8 million children the following year.

Jackson said Planting Peace is now in the process of deworming every child in Guatemala. The group is able to purchase 1 million of the pills necessary to rid people of intestinal tapeworms for $15,000. The pills’ street value, he said, would be roughly $2.5 million.

Deworming is easily done, Jackson said, and cost effective.

“We give the kids this pill, the worms shoot out of them in 24 to 48 hours, and life comes back into them. It’s one of the most amazing things,” he said. “And it’s unfortunate that people pump money into feeding programs and not deworming issues.”

Jackson said the timing seems perfect for the group to launch its equality campaign, starting with the Equality House.

“It’s good timing, with the climate of the country moving toward marriage equality, equality as a whole,” he said. “We’re just doing what we can to help push that through.”

Additional information about Planting Peace and its initiatives, including the Equality House, can be found on the organization’s website, http://www.plantingpeace.org.

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What possible rules could there be that would allow the WBC to fly Israeli and upside down American flags, to paste up their houses with a godhatesamerica.com banner that would disallow a little paint. And if there are that's truly what's wrong with America.

An interesting take, but there are enough rules out there from the city as well as from home owner associations, that such patchwork painting of one's house, while should be allowed because it is their property, would actually not be allowed and may force the city to issue notice and if not rectified, the city paints the house white and charge the cost to the home owner. I know one person who was forced to paint her garage by the city or face the city doing it and charging her.

People are too concerned about controlling what their neighbors do with their property rather than taking care of their own property.

I am sure the neighbors would probably allow it because it really would not be any worse than the Phelps. The question is whether the city has any ordinances regarding the painting of homes. I bet they do. The city tries to control everything in the name of maintaining property values (property taxes).

As for the use of the home, I was not even considering that. Merely the outside look of the house. However, if they wanted to push it, they could give the house to a homosexual couple that like to have PG-13 rated make out sessions with the windows open. It is spring, they could be working out in the front yard together doing gardening.

Very few older neighborhoods have homeowners associations and their associated restrictive covenants and regulations. Those are mostly features of newer subdivisions, and 12th/Orleans certainly doesn't qualify as "newer."

Wonder if the klan copyrighted the "God hates" thing, and plans a lawsuit? I guess that's about all they do...protest with hatred, sue people, and defend themselves in lawsuits? Otherwise, they do....what? Nothing, really?

We've had to look at Westboro Church signs and the hate messages they spread. About time the Phelps get to look at the colors that represent loving people everyday. Too much to ask that this would change Westboro Church?

I wonder if having a group across the street who is actually promoting love, peace, and good in general could actually cause even one Phelps person to stop and look at their own place and it's signs, and ask themselves a few VERY SERIOUS QUESTIONS? Such as....why am I doing this, are these the people I really want to associate myself with, and what kind of person am I to promote hatred instead of goodness and love?

Unfortunately the WBC thrives on the media attention no matter if it is good or bad. Doing this and having the media coverage is just what they want. I just finished reading a book written by a former member of the WBC and it was very enlightening into how things work. From the sounds of things they are slowly imploding and as generations die off we may not have to deal with them for long. If everyone just ignored them including the media they would go quicker.

I would have to agree with american somewhat. They are not going away. But their impact and message would be stunted if people like this group and every other media outlet would ignore them. Running stories on them is their fuel. They continually-- inadvertantly spread their message and reach with every story. You know the old saying if a tree falls in the woods...........